After forfeiting funds, Hidalgo County comes into more rental aid

The Hidalgo County Community Service Agency announced new funding available for families that have been approved for rental assistance just days after having to return nearly $1 million in federal aid.

In July, Hidalgo County was forced to turn over $962,220.85 in unobligated funds to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The county has had to return a total of $11,906,721.52 of the $26 million Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds received last January.

“We identified some funds — a couple of different funds that can help us,” Hidalgo County Community Service Agency Director Jaime Longoria said Thursday. “Certainly, we have funds in-house right now to assist those families that are in an eviction situation. We know that because as they apply, as they come through the process, the client will tell us or give us an eviction notice.”

Longoria said his department still has funds from the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) that will go toward providing assistance to roughly 170 families — an estimated $750,000 worth in allocated funds.

He added that those 170 families are part of a larger group of applications that are currently in “approved status.” He said some of these 170 applications were able to get through the application process quickly due to the critical need for assistance, that being an eviction situation.

“Those are applications that as they worked their way through the system, they had all the documentation, the auditors reviewed them, the supervisors checked them off, and they subsequently listed them on the website as approved,” Longoria said.

In total, there are an estimated 550 applications that have “approved status.” He said that his department has identified some funds that will provide assistance to all the approved families.

Longoria said the funding will also help families that are currently going through the application process.

“I can’t categorically say we will cover everyone that’s in the pipeline right now, but I feel pretty good,” Longoria said. “I’m pretty confident that we’ll get through a large portion of those.”

Despite the program coming to an end in September, Longoria said that anticipates there being enough funding to assist these families up to the end of the year.

All of these applications fall into the rental assistance program, which was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Longoria said that residents in need of assistance can still go to his department to get the help they may need.

“We have families that we deal with on a day-to-day basis who come into our office and are not part of any rental assistance program,” Longoria said. “They’re in all different kinds of situations. What our policy has been absent of these rental assistance programs was that if they were in eviction status or they’re being removed from their home, then there are some things that we can do to intervene.”

He said that his department offers other rental assistance programs that can help struggling families get back into a more stable situation.

“We’re committed to making life as good as we possibly can for families that are struggling on a day-to-day basis,” Longoria said. “We’ve got families that come to us with a variety of needs — anything from evictions to health needs to help with utilities. We see them in all situations, and we’re committed to work with our partners and work with our own money to help families address those needs and get back on their feet.”

County residents in need of assistance are encouraged to visit the agency’s website at www.hidalgocsa.org, or visit their office at 2524 N. Closner Blvd. in Edinburg anytime between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.